Buona Notte
by TunaForDesert
Summary: One winter night ten years ago, Kuroko witnessed a boy losing what last of his innocence was left as he tried to protect it, and failed.


Kuroko Tetsuya had lived a relatively normal life for sixteen years, albeit slightly different due to his thin presence. Though, being held as a hostage by an upstart Yakuza gang with his only change of freedom priced at a two million ransom was never in his to do list, especially not before the age of twenty.

These people were not afraid of killing, and the chances that they would keep their words to not harm him was under ten percent. Kuroko was sure that he could easily escape, given his low presence, but the problem was that he was not the only hostage.

Beside him, tied with a thick rough rope, was a boy who was most likely a middle school student. He had wide chestnut eyes that glanced around fearfully as they were seated there on the dirty ground. Kuroko felt sorry for him and even guiltier for dragging the boy into this.

Kuroko was the only one who was meant to be a hostage, but this boy interfered without a second thought and was promptly shoved into the van that Kuroko was placed in, both tied tightly. From what Kuroko had seen so far, they were in one of the abandoned warehouses on the dock.

The leader was sitting on the sofa in front of them, inhaling the cancerous sticks as if it was the most joyous treat. His floral pattern red shirt was barely visible under his white suit. Two top buttons of the red dress shirt were undone, revealing a thick and heavy looking chain of gold.

Behind Kuroko and the young boy were three men in black suits, their fingers gingerly caressing the shotguns slung on their shoulders. Kuroko thought it was a little too stretched and elaborated for a normal yakuza gang. And behind the boss, were five men with even more weapons hidden under their suits.

The boss leaned forward, stomping the cigarette under his leather shoes before locking his black eyes with Kuroko's undeterred blue eyes. The boy with chestnut eyes and hair squeaked loudly at the mean stare.

"Who'd thought we'd come across the biggest fish today, boys?" the man smirked with warped amusement, his men chuckling at their own hidden joke. Kuroko found their situation unamusing.

"Release us, or at the very least, him. You were going after me, originally, weren't you?"

The man pinned Kuroko with unreadable eyes, the grin never leaving his scarred face.

"Yes, yes, of course." The man replied offhandedly. "Your father has been giving us quite a trouble lately. Being the son of the chief in command of Tokyo's police force must've been tough on you, right boy?"

Kuroko answered with a hardened gaze. The man laughed boisterously, before silencing his short moment of euphoria in favor of fixing a look at the boy with chestnut hair, a look bordering insane.

"However, we have a bigger and more important guest with us today. What are you doing here all alone in Japan? Where are your precious Famiglia?"

The boy met the man's eyes shakily, his eyes wide with horror that clenched Kuroko's stomach sickly, "H-how did you know?"

The man snorted, "Boy, you think we're new and don't have any power? It's all too easy. Remember the destroyed Momokyokai? That was your first mark. And the Inheritance Ceremony did wonder to our data. It was hard not to recognize you at first sight."

The boy seemed to trying to merge with the chair, and while Kuroko was horribly confused, he still found it in himself the desire to protect the frail younger boy.

"Please, don't harm him any further. You have me, so please release him." He resorted to begging, but Kuroko knew it would be worth it if he saved a life.

The boss stood up, approaching them with large threatening strides. He looked down at Kuroko with hard eyes that were nothing like his light malicious gaze a few moments ago. The man opened his mouth to say something, but the metallic door of the warehouse burst open. The doors fell, a mark of a punch on both of them.

"Tenth!"

Someone shouted, and their eyes fell to the panting figure that was stepping into the area. It was a man of European heritage, adorning darker chestnut hair and a pair of furious green eyes.

"Marco!" the boy shouted, his voice mixed with relief and worry. Kuroko found the latter to be justified, though he was slightly worried about the man's injured state, seeing as he was drenched in blood.

"How dare you…" The foreign man stepped forward with staggering steps. His eyes flickered momentarily in worry to the boy beside Kuroko before glaring heavily at the boss.

"I'm sorry Tenth, for letting you out of my sight. I vow to never make that mistake again."

"Marco, get out of here!" the boy shouted, "Get out of here and get your wounds to be treated first. I'll be fine!"

Kuroko marveled silently at how the boy beside him was worrying over others when his own situation seemed to be just as grave.

"This is nothing, Tenth." The foreign man grinned before grimacing in pain. "It was entirely my fault. Please, let me repent for my mistake."

"I won't be happy about this! And you know it!" the boy choked with tears.

"AGH! Stop this bullshit!" the boss took out a gun from his suit and clicked it, eyes glaring at the newcomer with hate. "You damned Vongola with your undying loyalty! Die!"

Kuroko watched in horror as the bullet struck the foreign man's kneecap. Blood burst out of it as he screamed in pain. The boy beside Kuroko screamed in horror, struggling to get out of the rope. His tearing eyes were looking at the injured man's kneeling figure worriedly.

"Marco, enough! This is an order! Get out of here!"

The boss approached the man; his underlings followed and encircled the foreigner to corner him. The boss put the mouth of the gun to his forehead. The foreigner stared up unflinchingly, even though he just had his kneecap destroyed a few moments ago.

"How would you like to die?" the boss asked in sickly warm voice.

"By the Tenth's hands." The man answered steadily.

The boss chuckled, and slowly, it turned into laughter. He turned to Kuroko and the boy, though his eyes that were dancing with mirth focused solely on the crying boy beside him.

"Do you hear that? He wanted to die by your hands! This is what I hate about you Italian mafia! Loyal to the core!"

_Italian mafia_, Kuroko swallowed inaudibly. He still did not know what was going on, but he had seen enough to somehow connect that the boy beside him was connected to an Italian mafia organization; the statement also helped. Kuroko took a look at the boy. The fear was no longer present, and in its place was rage as he glared at the boss with hate-filled eyes.

"Get away from him! Don't hurt him!"

The boss laughed, mocking the boy's inability to save a subordinate's life.

"Poor Vongola Decimo. Reduced into this helpless weakling and forced to watch as his subordinate is tortured right before his very own eyes. Yes, that would make an excellent story. Don't you think so, boys?"

The underlings laughed along with their boss. The foreign man closed his in frustrated resignation, clutching his bleeding abdomen before looking up at the boy with a thin smile.

"Tenth, please close your eyes and don't listen to anything else. Remember our Famiglia. They will come to save you. So please, close your eyes until then. Let me protect that last shred of innocence. I'm sorry for allowing this to happen. I've been happy in your service. _Arrivederci, mia capo_."

"**NO!"**

Kuroko bit his lower lips, eyes closed in frustration at his own weakness in this situation. He scooted closer to the near hysterical boy beside him. The boy turned to him and Kuroko fixed him with a pleading look. The least he could do at this very moment was to grant a man's dying wish.

"Please." His voice trembled at their horrible fate. "Respect his wish. Lie on my lap and let me cover your ears."

The boy shook his head slowly, eyes wide with tears and fear. A grunt of pain snapped their attention to what was happening a few feet away from them. The boy's eyes grew wider at the sight of the man's bloodied face before burying his face Kuroko's lap, squeezing his eyes close that were filled with tears. Kuroko drew his knees closer to his chest so both of his ears were covered.

It lasted almost an hour, Kuroko thought. His own eyes were closed during the duration of the time. This was a nightmare, Kuroko wanted to make himself believe that and perhaps the younger boy who was crying on his lap. But, they both knew it was not.

When the screaming stopped, Kuroko did not dare to look up yet. He opened his eyes and looked down at the suffering boy.

"Now, Decimo, would you like to take a look at your precious family? I'm sure he'd be forever honored to have his boss-"

Gunshots were heard across the warehouse, and as men in uniform poured in, with his father leading them, Kuroko had never been so relieved and grateful in his life.

The men were arrested without much fuss, though the boss made a scene by trying to jump into the water to escape. His plan backfired when almost a dozen polices released gunshots and hit his leg, making him unable to swim any further.

Kuroko's father immediately ran to them, his eyes raked over Kuroko for any injury before it fell onto the boy who had fainted at some point of time.

"I'm glad you're safe." His father whispered, trembling. Kuroko bit back a bitter reply and just nodded with a shaky smile. _Why hadn't you come sooner?_

When Kuroko was escorted into the ambulance, a man in fedora and black suit appeared beside the boy who was being transferred into the ambulance. He was another foreigner, with eyes as dark as ink and hair of the same shade.

"I'm taking him home." He announced to the perplexity of the people around them. When there seemed to be protests, Kuroko whispered to his father that he could tell everything that happened, and that the boy was dragged into this kidnapping. The elder Kuroko gave his son a considering gaze before giving the consent for the man to take the boy.

Before Kuroko climbed into the ambulance, the man in fedora stopped in his step and gave a slight bow of his head to Kuroko.

XXX

A few days after that, his teammates made a plan to play street basketball to celebrate Kuroko's recovery. Somehow, the other teams were dragged into the impromptu gathering, including his former teammates.

At the police station, Kuroko had explained everything that happened, only leaving out the part about the boy's connection to the Italian mafia. He still felt nausea clawing out every time he recalled the horrible memory of a boy, barely out of his childhood being subjected to such torment.

Kuroko still wondered if the boy was alright. He would have liked to see him even once to make sure that he was.

A limousine pulled over near the entrance of the court, and everyone stopped to look at the car. Kuroko rose from his position to the ground and patted his behind to get rid of dirt. A man stepped out of the car as his companion with the bizarre haircut held it open. The man who step outside of the vehicle had blond hair, rough face with ferocious look. He looked at the bunch of teenager before stepping into the court. Following behind him were a woman with light hair and glasses and the same man with punkish haircut.

"Is Kuroko Tetsuya-kun here?" the blond man asked.

Kuroko stepped forward and spoke, "I am him."

The man's eyes fell onto Kuroko. They were very guarded, as proven by the fact that he was not surprised in the slightest when Kuroko "magically" appeared before him, though he couldn't say the same about the man and woman behind him who jumped, their hands instinctively reaching into their coat. Kuroko had a hunch of what they hid beneath those.

"I am Sawada Iemitsu, father of Sawada Tsunayoshi, the boy who was with you a few days ago."

Kuroko's eyes widened slightly, eyes searching for any resemblance with the small but ferocious boy he was abducted with a few days ago, but found none. The man grinned slightly, as if knowing what Kuroko was thinking.

"I know my boy looks nothing like me since he takes after his lovely mother. But, I am very grateful to you, Kuroko-kun."

Kuroko snapped out of his stupor and shook his head, "It was the least I could do, sir. I couldn't let him go through that."

Sawada-san nodded, before signaling for the woman to step forward. In the woman's hands was a gray suitcase of average size. The blond man took it from her and promptly shoved it into Kuroko's hands. Smiling, he said, "This is very small compared to what you've done for my son. But, I still hope you would accept it."

Kuroko furrowed his eyebrows before opening the suitcase slowly. His eyes widened at the stack after stack of Japanese yen stuffed into every available space of it. Kuroko looked up at Sawada-san in shock. Shaking his head, Kuroko closed the suitcase and handed it to him again.

Sawada-san looked shock, "What-"

"I'm sorry, but I cannot accept this. I did not do it for money. I did it for myself. I'm grateful for your thoughtfulness, but I really can't. I'm sorry." Following his speech was a bow. Kuroko slowly rose. The man still looked shocked before he sighed.

"I understand." He conceded. He handed the suitcase back to the woman and fished out a card from his case. He gave Kuroko a slow tentative smile before holding out the card. Kuroko took it, equally hesitant.

"If you need anything," he started, "Give that number a ring. We'll be glad of help anytime."

This time, Kuroko accepted.

XXX

Ten years after that incident, in which most of his friends bemoaning his refusal of the fortune, Kuroko thought he had made a good choice. He entered the police force, along with Kagami and Aomine. Climbing the ranks pretty fast, and here he was today, holding the position his father once held.

The crime rate in Tokyo had dropped since that incident ten years ago, and Kuroko learned a few years ago that it was closely related to the incident.

The Vongola, Kuroko learned, was the biggest and most powerful mafia organization in the world. They were also trying to return to the path the first boss had intended for the Famiglia to walk upon hundreds of years ago. The Japanese police force never had the chance of going against the organization head-on, but there were few instances where it came pretty close. Regardless, it was still his duty to perform what the public wanted him to: catch those bad people.

"Kuroko, are you done for today?" Kagami questioned after the meeting that evening. Kuroko nodded and fixed his hat.

"I have an appointment later tonight. Have a good night, Kagami-kun."

There were still a few hours to get ready and looked presentable enough. He had Vongola Decimo to catch for dinner and have a long talk with, after all.

* * *

End.

A/N: I totally did not mean to make Marco's part as depressing. Also, imagine TYL!Kuroko in police uniform and TYL!Tsuna in suit and cape. Asdfghjkl let me die at the total unfairness of how hot that image is.

There is another version of 'Arrivederci, mio capo' which is 'Addio, il mio capo'. I like the former better and I translated it myself without Google so yeah. It means 'Goodbye, my boss.'

* * *

黒子のバスケ © Fujimaki Tadatoshi

家庭教師ヒットマンREBORN! © Akira Amano

Edited version © AokazuSei


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